Mr Abbott has denied leaking the material and there is no evidence he did. However, there is front-page evidence he commented on the new information in a manner which reflected badly on the Turnbull Government, using hammer-blow terms such as “flabbergasted” to describe his reaction to a Turnbull Government decision.

In Parliament, the Prime Minister revealed Australian Federal Police were investigating the release of the document, which was drawn up during the Abbott government.

Malcolm Turnbull’s message was clear: Mr Abbott might not be the culprit but, if he was, the Prime Minister would use the law against him.

It was a sign the smouldering antipathy between the two men could become outright war.

Last night, Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull joined former Liberal heavyweights Peter Costello and John Howard to mark the 20th anniversary of the election of the Howard government.

The three Liberal prime ministers and a treasurer who was prime ministerial wannabe sat at the same table.

As speakers saluted the guest of honour’s 11 years as prime minister, the occasion highlighted the fact there had been five prime ministerships in the scant nine years since Mr Howard’s election loss to Labor’s Kevin Rudd.

There would be little heart in the Liberal Party to push that tally to six by removing Malcolm Turnbull, even if it did allow Tony Abbott to reclaim what he continues to believe was stolen personal property.